{se·man·tics n. The meaning or the interpretation of a word, sentence, or other language form}

"Semantics" isn't necessarily a bad word, as many disagreements hinge on how we define our terms.
Here, we'll talk semantics, movies, technology, politics, and just about everything else under the sun.

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Friday, November 11, 2005

The Origin...

Being a comic book fan, I'm surprised it took this long for me to realize I left out the "origin" story - at least of the name of this blog. I may change it, at some point, so I'll mention that it's now called "Damned Anti-Semantics." The second pseudo-word came about after I'd been accused of being uninterested in discussion topics and would rather bicker over semantics. That ain't me, but I *do* think that more truths are revealed after consulting a dictionary than one might suspect. It's always related to uncovering truths or exchanging ideas, but I doubt I'll ever be anything more than an argumentative ass to those Damned Anti-Semantics.

The irony is that those who are most likely to call me argumentative are usually the ones who are just pissed that I don't agree with them because they said so. I give reasons for feeling and believing this or that. I listen to yours, comment on them, present mine, and so on. They call that discussion. Anyone who thinks they're going to tell me what to think or feel and I'm supposed to accept this without question or comment... Well, that person's in for a surprise.

It's surprising just how many people consider themselves to be civil, reasonable souls, but, when faced with someone who simply disagrees with them, become uncivil and completely unreasonable. I don't think that's usually due to something CHANGING them, so I misphrased that. I think it's more like the curtain was pulled back, revealing the Wizard's true appearance. Everything else was an illusion.

S'kinda funny that the times I'm most likely to drop a dictionary on yo' ass are the times when we disagree about the nature of something. For instance, a smart guy I know recently objected when someone else referred to a murderer as "religious." Smart Guy's point was actually a little different than I first suspected, but I think this will illustrate my point well, anyway.

I don't think that someone doing a bad thing means that person's not religious. I don't think the two things are mutually exclusive. BUT, maybe I've misunderstood the meaning of the word "religious." So, I took a look at the dictionary. I concluded that religious people do very bad things, but don't forfeit that religious label, as a result. Now, Smart Guy didn't flip out or anything, like some people do. What often happens is that we (meaning me and some other folks) spend time discussing what "religious" is, they get frustrated, and then they accuse me of only being interested in semantics.

It's simple. If you say it's a duck and I say it's not, we oughta consult a reference source about ducks. If that's too hard to understand, I'm sorry. If you ever change your mind, hit me up. Until then, you'll remain one of those Damned Anti-Semantics I complain about.